Who amongst us choose cartridge razors?

Marko recently started a thread and during discussion the topic came up of some of our brethren choose to use cartridge razors. I'd like to find out how many of you rock that choice? I'd also like you to share your routine. Do you use brush and soap? What carts do you like and why? How long does a cart last you? Have you found a remarkably cheap source for your carts? This style fascinates me and I would remind us to use decorum in our posts that ALL shavers are our comrades, that all of us have different circumstances, that we make different choices, but that we all make this forum a better place and a great source of info.

I generally choose hard soap, brush, and DE but when traveling light I carry on a Gillette Guard single blade cart. I get great shaves if I remember that this razor seems to do best with a loose and slick lather. Two passes generally get me business-ready when on the road. The Guard is pretty cheap and ships out of India. I also like Gillette Trac II. I recall the old white handle Bic disposables were smoking sharp and demanded your tech to be on point or they would bite.

So Gents, share your cart know-how with us.

I started using single blade razors (DE, AC-blade, Gem-blade, injector blade, FHS-10 blade) not to save money, like many others. I did it because of the gunk/hair buildup between the blades in my multi-blade cartridges. The single-blade carts (e.g., Gillette Guard, OneBlade) cannot give me a close shave (in my hand). Ergo, I have not had any interest in carts for several years. We're all different.

Thanks for starting this thread Lipripper660.   Please forgive me if I stray a bit from carts only.  Many cart users reading or responding to this thread will already be quite experienced with our hobby. But there may also be newcomers, and I would like to say a few things with them in mind too.

I usually take a Gillette Guard along when I travel, and I occasionally use a OneBlade Genesis.  The Genesis is not a cart in my book, but it does have a pivoting head, it is a forgiving razor, and it has already been mentioned in this thread. There are still times, at home or on the road, when the Genesis is the tool I reach for. I most often use badger brushes at home and synthetics on the road.  (I could probably get along just as well with synthetics only, but I have never seriously tested that idea.)  At any given time, I take roughly 90 percent of my shaves cycling through three or fewer “soap bases” (soaps from the same maker with the same recipe except for the scent).

If I were starting to expand my shaving hobby beyond carts and canned foam, I would keep whatever cart I was using, buy a synthetic brush, and learn to lather with a “real” shaving soap or cream, meaning one that requires a brush. I would suggest bowl lathering at first. The most important thing is to get good quality items and stick with the same brush and soap base for a few weeks or a month at a time. The one exception to the “stick with it” rule is if your skin doesn’t tolerate the products you are using. In any case, the items need to be good, but they do not need to be great, and not top-shelf expensive. Only after I was comfortable building lather would I consider whether I wanted to move to a more traditional razor. This is by no means the only way to move on down the road, but with 20-20 hindsight, it is the way I wish I had done it.

Since I started traditional wet shaving almost 2 years ago, it is now my hobby. I have 19 razors and 18 brushes, and lots of soaps and creams. The shaving journey has been a blast and I love it.
For me, the process is fun, relaxing and I feel like I get a "cruise ship facial" every time I shave. Also, IMHO my shaves are definitely closer based on stubble after 24 hours. But when I am in a "crisis mad rush" and need a 3 minute quick shave in the shower...I will still use a can of cream and a Gillette Fusion. Unless I am wrong, it is very difficult to traditional wet shave in 3 minutes or less (lather, shave and clean up)! 99.9% of the time, I wet shave, since I have the time to shave and enjoy it. But I am glad to have the option of a cartridge razor when I need one. Cartridge razors and disposables do have some positive attributes. Most of the time, I still do a final touch up with my trustee Schick ST (Blue color, without the conditioning strip) since it's very thin precision head can get the hard to reach area under the nose. The ST is also great for a quick buff up. I get the ST from the UK, since they are not available in the USA.

I use cartridges to shave my head but stick to a DE to shave my face. for me, cartridges are just so much easier to use on my head than SE/DE razor.

Nice thread idea.

Mostly a DE shaver but carts for travel. The quality of Gillette’s (cartridge) blades are so good now they give great results with proper prep for me.

Three shaves down with the brand new Skinguard and seriously impressed. Smooth as silk. Gillette created a masterpiece in my (limited) use with this two blade offering.

vtmax where did you buy skin guard from?

CVS pharmacy last Thursday hiding amongst Gillette’s other offerings. A nice surprise as I had heard early January.

Nice thread idea.

Mostly a DE shaver but carts for travel. The quality of Gillette’s (cartridge) blades are so good now they give great results with proper prep for me.

Three shaves down with the brand new Skinguard and seriously impressed. Smooth as silk. Gillette created a masterpiece in my (limited) use with this two blade offering.

any of those head shaves?

Will test the Skinguard up above tomorrow. If it shaves anywhere near as well as the face it will be a winner.